Updated Wednesday, April 20, 2016, 3:31 p.m.

RUSSELL -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation has awarded $12,000 to the St. Lawrence Land Trust (StLLT) to help with establishing the trust’s first fee-owned conservation property.

The Hart's Falls Preserve, also known as Flat Rocks, along the Grasse River, was designated by DEC last year under the St. Lawrence Land Trust. The site is about one mile south of Pyrites, just south of the Edwards-Canton town line. It is open to the public.

The money is to “help cover costs associated with the development of public access and a management plan for stewardship of the preserve, which contains high quality riparian habitat and culturally-significant waterfalls on the Grasse River in northern St. Lawrence County,” said the announcement from DEC.

The conservation organization was given this privately owned property by Mrs. Barbara Kelly in 2015. The Hart’s Falls Preserve will be an integral part of the planned Grasse River Corridor Blueway Trail.

Representatives of the Town of Russell and Canton’s Blueway Trail planning committees and town economic developers visited Hart’s Falls in November 2015 to consider how to incorporate it into the plan, including the concept of a “waterfall trail.”

“Local people have long known about the beauty of Hart’s Falls. The Saint Lawrence Land Trust and its partners are very happy that we can make Mrs. Kelly’s wish that this area be preserved and open to the public a reality,” said StLLT Board President Tom Langen.

Hart’s Falls Preserve is now and will remain open to the public for hiking, skiing, paddling, picnicking, and fishing. Hunting, swimming, and motorized vehicles are not permitted due to risk management concerns.

The St. Lawrence Land Trust is planning a number of public activities at the site, and is working with Nature Up North and local colleges to develop environmental education activities related to water quality monitoring and habitat management.

For more information, contact Langen at tlangen@clarkson.edu, his office at 315 268 7933, or his cell at 315 261 0182.